Category — 1.7 Motor Development: Gross Motor Skills

Motor development1 begins with simple skills and moves to more complex skills. This is why it is described in terms of a hierarchical pattern (see full Glossary) (Fig. 1). Delays in the development of gross motor skills should be addressed as soon as possible. For instance, a child may not be able to run, if he/she does not learn to stand and walk first.

Figure 1: A child learning to walk. He needed to stand up alone first.